A multi-tier parking facility system for vehicles having a plurality of parking tiers arranged one above the other is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,955. In such a parking facility system, the vehicles to be parked are first transported into the desired parking tier by a tier conveyor, upon whose platform is arranged a dispatching or distributing carriage which is movable on at least one travel rail. Before the distributing carriage moves via the travel rail into the parking tiers with a depositing or parking device for the vehicle, the paring tier likewise being provided with a parking rail, the vehicle located on the distributing carriage is lifted by a lifting fork having comb-like arms which support the wheels of the vehicles. After arriving in the desired parking space, the vehicle is lowered and, by this means, deposited on additional comb-like carrying arms arranged in the parking tier or space. The lifting fork is lowered again, the distributing carriage moves underneath the vehicle and moves the carrying arms out of the parking tier back onto the platform of the tier conveyor.
The heretofore known multi-tier parking facility system has proven disadvantages. More particularly, the distributing carriage for depositing and removal of vehicles increases the overall height of the parking tiers. This leads to an inefficient use of the enclosed space of the multi-tier parking facility system, especially taking into account the sum of individual heights of each of the parking tiers. Moreover, because of the rigid and cantilevering arrangement of the carrying arms, the steel construction defining the parking spaces and receiving the carrying arms must be constructed in a correspondingly stable manner in order to absorb the loading moment occurring due to the loading of the carrying arms.